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Body Outlaws: Young Women Write about Body Image and Identity
 
 
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Body Outlaws: Young Women Write about Body Image and Identity [Paperback]

Ophira Edut (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Paperback CDN $16.49   -- --
Paperback, Oct 1 2000 --   -- --
There is a newer edition of this item:
Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules Of Beauty and Body Image Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules Of Beauty and Body Image 4.5 out of 5 stars (14)
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The breezy, irreverent essays in Adios, Barbie are a welcome antidote to the narrow cultural consciousness the tiny doll has fostered for more than 40 years. While thousands of little girls worship Barbie's plasticine perfection, those who wind up dissatisfied with the message she sends--be white, be skinny, be stacked, be pretty, and then you'll be loved--can tell you how a toy skews body image in the real world. Among whites talking trash about blacks and upwardly mobile black folks, notes Erin J. Aubry, big butts are suspect--"low-class and ghettoish," the antithesis of Barbie's tightly tucked derriere. Yet on good days, Aubry applauds her ample proportions, for "unlike hair or skin, the butt is stubborn, immutable--it can't be hot-combed or straightened or bleached into submission. It does not assimilate; it never took a slave name."

In "Fishnets, Feather Boas, and Fat," Nomy Lam--a 250-pound, 22-year-old disabled woman--and friends elbow their way to the front of a determinedly different club, "dancing like fiends toward revolution." Lee Damsky tells us why her mother's model of scientific prowess took a dusty third-place to big-screen images of "beauty and femininity [that] seem to offer me absolute power rivaled only by a fascist dictatorship." Because the various writers gathered together here are young, their conceits and world-views are sometimes annoyingly unexamined; by the same token, though, their energy, heckling, and bone-deep assurance make large and pleasing dents in mainstream assumptions. --Francesca Coltrera --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Edut, founder and publisher of the magazine HUES (Hear Us Emerging Sisters), has assembled a collection of the freshest, hippest writers ever to slam Mattel's Barbie doll and speak up for the beauty of the un-blonde, the un-tall and the un-anorexic. Addressing everything you always wanted to know about body image, from leg hair to transsexuals and African American women's posteriors, the more than 25 contributors present a spectrum of attitudes toward the female body. Although a few of the essays are weak when compared to the book's best pieces, the volume as a whole is a step forward in the discussion of how feminine attractiveness is viewed in American society, concluding that women must seek their own definition of beauty in order to gain a sense of self-acceptance. Essays such as Susan Jane Gilman's "Klaus Barbie, and Other Dolls I'd Like to See" and Graciela Rodriguez's "Breaking the Model" provide insight into the challenges of young women who grew up feeling as if they had to compete with the pert and impossibly perfect Barbie. Other pieces, such as "My Jewish Nose" by Lisa Jervis and "My Brown Face" by Mira Jacob, illuminate the obstacles in trying to emulate a Caucasian appearance. Every writer in this splendid collection raises a different issue, yet the essays address the same theme and, cumulatively, make for compelling and important reading.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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"Next time, I'm going to walk into that warehouse and snap my tongue like a honeyed whip." Read the first page
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14 Reviews
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4.5 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, Dec 21 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Body Outlaws: Young Women Write about Body Image and Identity (Paperback)
I have never been really into Women's Studies, but I recently saw this book and was intrigued. Like almost every woman on earth, I struggle with my feelings about my body. It's just so great to know that I'm not alone. It's inspiring to read about women who've made peace or made progress with their body images. This book definitely made me more aware of images of beauty that society considers normal. I realized that I've spent my whole life swallowing what the media tells me to and letting that form my self image. The contributors to this book are very diverse but are united as well.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but flawed, Aug 8 2001
This review is from: Adios, Barbie: Young Women Write About Body Image and Identity (Paperback)
The idea behind "Adios Barbie" is interesting, mixing two controversial and explosive issues (body image and ethnic identity), but it isn't pulled off perfectly. Out of the 26 essay writers: 2 are East Indian, 6 are black, 3 are hispanic, 5 are Jewish (7 if you count the editor and foreword writer), 9 are white and 1 is Filipino-European.

The best essays are "Klaus Barbie, and other dolls I'd like to see" by Susan Jane Gilman, is a wickedly funny mockery of themed barbies; "The Skinny on Small" by Diane Sepanski about a 5"3.5 woman's struggles with being short (which I can relate to, as I am the same height as her); "My Jewish Nose" by Lisa Jervis is written with self deprecating humor; "Strip!" by Diana Courvant, about a transsexual and "Intimate Enemies" by Jennifer Berger is a thought-provoking story about a woman's literal war with her allergy prone body.

However, most of the other essay are nearly identical, about a woman's struggles with her weight or ethnicity, and while it's certainly an interesting topic, the similarity waters it down quite a bit and the high number of these types of essays starts to get boring. In "Fishnets, Feather Boas and Fat", author Nomy Lamm starts to get downright obnoxious and borders on the offensive in her constant mocking of other people and seeming arrogance. The topic Ms. Lamm writes about is interesting enough: about a 250 pound disabled lesbian who likes fashion and has the bravery to wear outrageous costumes she concocts herself, and she touches on issues of not wanting to be serious and upstanding all the time, and feeling insecure about her flamboyance; and it seems that she is well-meaning and provacative. However, her quote: "poor body image usually refers to the plight of thin women who think they are fat" may not be meant offensively, but it seemed belittling towards the pain and self-hatred many anorexics/bulimics and other "thin" women do feel.

"Adios, Barbie" is worth a read, but don't take all the ideas presented to heart.

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5.0 out of 5 stars so, so so important, May 31 2001
This review is from: Body Outlaws: Young Women Write about Body Image and Identity (Paperback)
I love this book, and I've read parts of it over and over again for my own healing. I admire every writer in this book so much, and after I finished reading it, I felt like something in me changed... going any deeper would be too personal.. but I recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest issues with their bodies.
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